Any cycling enthusiast knows that parking and storing a bicycle indoors can be challenging when your home doesn’t have a garage or outdoor storage shed. It can become especially problematic for those of you living in a small apartment or college dorm room where storage solutions are regulated (i.e., “bicycles are not allowed to be attached to any part of a building”). I, for one, can recall the pains of tripping over my beloved bike parked in my little rented abode during my college years.

Many moons ago, when I lived in a local apartment development, one of my neighbors would park her beach cruiser bicycle out on the second floor balcony of her one-bedroom unit. Even though it was safe and secure from any would-be thief, mud daubers (aka, wasps) took up residence under the bicycle seat once. Only once. Needless to say, she reluctantly decided to store her cruiser inside her small dwelling. She owned really over-sized furniture and a lot of tchotchkes on multiple bookcases, so space was a premium in her apartment, to say the least. Most of the time, her bicycle was parked near the front door in the hall space. If only it had looked this nice.

Other times, she would move it either into the open living room, kitchen, dining area, next to her desk space, or in her bedroom. I’ll help you visualize that, albeit with images from other appealing interiors.

And, whenever she had dinner parties or during the holidays, she tried to have her bicycle ‘blend in’ and look especially pretty. Something like these lovely images (right now for some reason, the Christmas in July song comes to mind!).

I’m still planning to get a new bicycle. I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve got to determine where I’ll store one indoors, since we have no garage or outdoor storage shed (c’est la vie!). But, if I roll the bicycle tires over a Scrusher boot brush that we use outdoors after a construction job site visit, there should not be a problem with tracking dirt or mud indoors.

Anyway, I’ve been looking into different options on how to artistically and elegantly display a lovely bicycling apparatus indoors without it taking up a lot of floor space. I admit, that’s not always an easy-peasy thing to do, being that the design of a bicycle parking area is based on bicycle dimensions.

It’s roughly a spot measuring around 24” wide x 68” long x 40” high, give or take a couple of inches here and there (unless you have a mountain bike with extra wide handlebars!). Plus, since access space around it is needed, it’s almost like finding room for a really big bookshelf, a small sofa, or a twin sized loft-style bed. If only I had an extra walk-in closet, or a staircase with closed storage space underneath.

Here lately, I’ve been on a mission to find more artistic and stylish options that are practical and would accommodate a step-through angled frame (a woman’s bike). Honestly, they’re not so easy to find.

I’ve come across several interesting alternatives that are fashioned by cycling aficionados who also happen to be product designers. Each of these bicycle storage options are designed to be a high-quality furniture or accessory piece. Some are created using either wood, steel, or ceramic. Others are made out of recycled post-industrial plastic materials. And a few are even designed to look like a piece of art when not in use.

Do you have a bicycle stored indoors? If so, is it artfully displayed among your other interior furnishings, or does your interior space look like the local bike shop? Do tell!

XO,

Trisha

P.S. Are you struggling to find a creative indoor bike storage solution? If you need help with interior space planning or design assistance, feel free to contact us over at our office. In the meantime, Happy Cycling!